Process and installation for roasting fruits or nuts

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a roasting process for the preparation of fruit or nuts such as almonds, cashew nuts, pecan nuts, peanuts; and the like. This process is characterized by the addition of oil to said fruit or nuts prior to the roasting stage. The invention also provides an equipment for applying this process, which essentially comprises feeding means (I) for the fruit or nuts to be roasted and conveying means (2) for carrying said fruit towards roasting means (3), said equipment being characterized in that it also includes oil and salt dispensing means (6, 7) at the inlet of the roasting means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the agro-food industry and moreparticularly to techniques for the preparation by roasting of fruits orseeds of the type of almonds, cashew nuts, pecans or the like, to renderthem fit for consumption. Products of this nature are generally used ashuman food as an accompaniment for aperitive beverages or are part ofthe composition of certain culinary preparations.

2. Description of the Prior Art

For several years now, consumers, alerted particularly by nutritionists,tend to direct their choice toward so-called "light" products, havingprincipally a low fat content but which nevertheless maintain theirorganoleptic properties. Edible seeds of the type of almonds, cashewnuts, pecan nuts, peanuts or the like, notable for being naturally veryrich in fatty and glucidic substances, are thus the more often listed asfoodstuffs to be avoided.

Moreover, the conventional techniques of preparation of these productsconsists generally in immersing the seeds in baths of hot oil, which isused several times, and which gives rise to the formation particularlyof oxidized triglycerides in a high proportion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention has for its object a process for the production byroasting of fruits or seeds belonging to this category, which permitsparticularly obtaining a product which is lighter, which is to saysubstantially less fatty and whose taste qualities will be maintained oreven improved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The FIGURE shows a schematic of a preferred installation for practicingthe present process.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A process according to the invention for roasting fruits and seedshaving low water content including almonds, cashew nuts, pecan nuts, andpeanuts has the following steps. First, the fruits and seeds to beroasted are coated with edible oil. Second, at least salt as a seasoningsubstance is added to the oil-coated fruits and seeds. Lastly, thefruits and seeds are roasted.

The invention relates to a process for the production by roasting offruits or seeds of the type of almonds, cashew nuts, pecan nuts, peanutsor the like, consisting in adding to the fruits or seeds salt and ifdesired other seasoning substances, before subjecting them to theroasting phase, this process being notable in that it consists in addingalso to the fruits or seeds edible oil before the roasting phase.

The fruits or seeds are thus simply sprayed with cold oil, i.e., with anoil at ambient temperature, and not immersed in a hot bath as in theearlier technique.

According to other known techniques, the roasting is conducted dry andoil is added only at the beginning of the cooling phase of the roastedproduct. This roasted product will then be, at the end of the treatmentin question, covered entirely with a more or less thick coating of oilbefore being packaged in bags or boxes which renders them less agreeableto the touch during consumption. Moreover, not being protected duringtheir passage through the oven, certain seeds can be carbonized, whichtranslates into a substantial loss of starting material.

With the process of the invention, the addition of oil is effectedbefore the roasting phase, which permits avoiding the above drawbacksand improving the "golden" appearance of the final product. Thus theoil, instead of stagnating on the surface of the seed, penetrates duringcooking into the superficial layers of the product to form a browncolored crust which crunches agreeably between the teeth.

Another important advantage of the process of the invention resides inthe fact that it permits thus limiting the quantity of oil used andhence reducing substantially the content of fatty material of the finalproduct. Relative to the so-called "dry roasting" process, whichrequires the addition of about 10% of oil to the quantity of roastednuts, the process of the invention requires only the initial supply of8% of this oil of which a fraction is moreover naturally eliminatedduring cooking.

According to another advantageous characteristic of the process of theinvention, the addition of salt and the addition of oil are effectedseparately, before the passage of the seeds to the oven, which permitsmodulating the respective quantities of these ingredients as a functionof the nature of the product treated or of the result which it isdesired to obtain.

The addition of salt and oil before roasting has the substantialadvantage of improving the adhesion of the particles of salt to thesurface of the nuts and thereby preventing a substantial quantity ofsalt from migrating to the bottom of the packaging bags as is often thecase with products of the prior art.

It has also been observed that to obtain taste qualities at leastcomparable to those of products prepared according to the prior art, itis possible with the present invention to reduce substantially thequantities of salt used. By way of example, for a preparation of 4 tonsof cashew nuts, one will use with the process of the invention 75 litersof vegetable oil and 60 kilograms of salt whose grains have dimensionsof the order of 170μ.

According to other preferred aspects of the process of the invention,the roasting phase is carried out at a temperature not higher than 180°C., for about 5 minutes, whilst the prior art "dry roasting" requires acooking temperature of at least 180° C. and a cooking time greater than5 minutes.

The characteristics set forth above give rise to substantial savings ofenergy and time which, with the economies realized in the ingredientsused, permit reducing substantially the price of the final product.

Studies conducted particularly on peanuts, have shown that the productsobtained with the process of the invention contain a lesser quantity ofbenzopyrene than those prepared according to the conventional hot bathtechnique, with a reduced degree of acidity and better resistance tooxidation.

The invention also has for its object an installation permittingpracticing the process which has been described.

The illustrated installation comprises conventionally a hopper 1 forsupplying nuts which are poured by gravity on a conveyor 2 to be broughttoward an oven 3. A cooling zone is adjacent the outlet of this oven,this zone being simply constituted by a belt conveyor 4 which conductsthe roasted nuts toward a packaging station 5.

According to the principles of the invention described above, thisinstallation comprises an oil distribution means 6 and a saltdistribution means 7 disposed at the inlet of the oven 3 in associationwith the screw conveyor 2. Preferably, and as can be seen, this conveyoris constituted by a screw which permits agitating the nuts during theirtransportation and coating them intimating with oils and salt poured bythe distribution means 6 and 7.

It will moreover be noted that during their transportation toward theoven 3, the fruits or nuts will naturally lose the excess oil whichcovers them, by simple draining.

The oil distribution means is, in the illustrated example, simplycomprised by a reservoir provided with a spray manifold, the saltdistribution means being itself comprised of a receptacle provided witha pneumatic pulverization device.

I claim:
 1. A process for roasting fruits or seeds having low watercontent, said process comprising the steps of:coating fruits or seeds tobe roasted with edible oil; adding at least salt as a seasoningsubstance to said oil-coated fruits or seeds; and then roasting saidsalted, oil-coated fruits or seeds.
 2. The process according to claim 1,characterized in that the oil is added at ambient temperature.
 3. Theprocess according to claim 1, characterized in that the oil is added ina proportion of 8% by volume of the fruits or seeds treated.
 4. Theprocess according to claim 1, characterized in that the addition of saltand the addition of oil are carried out separately.
 5. The processaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the roasting phase isconducted at a temperature not higher than 180° C.
 6. The processaccording to claim 5, characterized in that the roasting phase has aduration substantially equal to 5 minutes.
 7. An installation forpracticing a process for roasting fruits or seeds having low watercontent, the process comprising the steps of: coating the fruits orseeds to be roasted with edible oil; adding at least salt as a seasoningsubstance to the oil-coated fruits or seeds; and then roasting thesalted, oil-coated fruits or seeds, said installation comprising:supplymeans (1) for fruits or seeds to be roasted; means (2) for conveyingsaid fruits or seeds toward roasting means (3); and distribution means(6, 7) for said at least salt and said edible oil at an inlet of saidroasting means, said distribution means having a reservoir with a spraymanifold for oil distribution, said distribution means having apneumatic pulverization device for salt distribution.
 8. Installationaccording to claim 7, wherein said distribution means are associatedwith said conveying means.
 9. Installation according to claim 8, whereinsaid conveying means comprise a screw conveyor (2).